Panacea (Greens & Beans Chicken Soup)

There's something particularly unproductive about having a wracking, productive cough. This was not the piece I planned to write, this month, but as my cough and fever worsened over the weekend and into midweek, drastic measures were required. With a tiny apartment kitchen, I don't keep a lot of food in the house, so feeling too sick to run to the grocery can quickly take the food situation to critical levels. Luckily, Aaron came to my rescue with a vat of homemade chicken soup. This vegetable-forward recipe is one we've made for years and is perfect for days when you're sick or just suffering some late April chill (it is the cruelest month, after all).

Save us from this cruel month

Give Caesar His Due (Caesar Salad)

As a lifelong iconoclast, I'm usually looking for unusual recipes (or looking for ways to make recipes unusual), so picking something as ubiquitous as Caesar salad may seem a tad incongruous. Sometimes making your own riff on an old standard can be a fun learning experience, and this certainly was. While a relatively new entry into the culinary milieux, Caesar salad has exploded in popularity with copious variations. This one is inspired by favorite fast-food salad place, substituting crunchy bits of crisp-baked parmesan cheese for the standard croutons (which means it can be advertised as both low-carb and gluten free).

Hail, Caesar!

Curried Away (Massaman Curry)

To Aaron's distress, I absolutely love Thai food. Not that he doesn't, but I tend to take things to extremes. I'll recommend we order Thai takeout multiple times per week, sometimes on consecutive days (Aaron usually says no to that). I simply can't get enough. Thai food utilizes a number of flavors somewhat unique to Southeast Asia: fiery, licorice-y Thai basil, sour tamarind, darkly sweet palm sugar, citrusy notes from lemongrass and kaffir limes, and a somewhat surprising lilt of seafood from savory shrimp paste and salty fish sauce, which end up in almost everything. These ingredients combine to give Thai cooking, like many Asian cuisines, a spicy, sweet-and-sour character that was once prevalent in European cooking throughout the Middle Ages, but fell out of fashion in favor of the simply savory. One of the most familiar dishes to a Western audience will be curry - a dish decidedly lacking a Western analogue. Curries are soup- or stew-like dishes with rich flavors imparted from curry pastes or powders, themselves made from copious amounts of spices. Common throughout South and Southeast Asia, an Indian curry can often be identified by use of more dried spice powders and a thicker, richer texture, whereas Thai curry is often a bit soupier and relies more on fresh, moist seasonings (curry paste).

Nom

Thanks for the "no, thank you" (Saffron Chicken Tenders)

As a child, I was a relatively finicky eater, much to the chagrin of my mother (who regularly handed out "no, thank you portions" in an attempt to broaden my palate). As it turns out, it was more a matter of time and maturity, and with age I've come to taste and experience wonderful new flavors and dishes that I'm absolutely certain 8-year-old me would never have dreamed of trying.

Would you say "no" to this?

Winter Whiteout (White Chicken Cheddar Chili)

Also published in Williamsport Sun-Gazette.

I don't know about you, but after the holidays, I usually feel a little wiped out. If you've spent your cooking mojo with friends and family, or just have a busy week, a slow cooker is invaluable. Pinterest and the internet at large abound with slow cooker recipes with good reason, because this kitchen device is extremely versatile. It also lends itself to brewing up vast cauldrons of food, which should suit those with families, visitors, or bottomless appetites like mine. In this case, to ward off the winter chill, I decided to make chili.

Chili blanco

Simple is Elegant (Prosciutto Roasted Chicken with Winter Vegetables)

Greetings Ladies and Gents!

While J learned much of his culinary skills from Martha, my early years of cooking were mostly me experimenting with recipes taught to me by my mother. That said, over the past half dozen years or so, I've gotten much of my inspiration and style from a royalty in the cooking world: Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa. While she is more than capable of making the most intricate of culinary delights, her guidance to creating amazing and memorable dishes is this: simple is elegant.

Simply elegant

Stripping Down (Naked Chicken, Orange-Thyme Butter)

Whew! Things have yet to really calm down, yet, and I am having trouble keeping up. Unfortunately, chores and work and posting cut down on my time spent lounging about in yoga pants. You wouldn't want to deny me that, would you? Luckily, I have no shortage of recipes that can be made with minimal effort, allowing one to turn one's attention elsewhere.

At least until dinnertime...

A Taste of Home (Chicken and Dumplings)

At last, I take the driver's seat! Today I bring you a family recipe, taught to me by a great-grandmother. Growing up, we moved around a bit up and down the East coast, but spent a significant amount of time in North Carolina. That afforded us the luxury of living near a large portion of my then step-father's family, including the aforementioned grandmother. She was a traditional southern cook and managed her own restaurant for years, but had since retired to maintain an extensive farm (and cook the fruits of that labor year-round).

Home cooking

A Warm Welcome (Chicken Soup with White Beans and Escarole)

Hello, ladies & gents! With warmest wishes we welcome you to the new and improved blog: GourmetGents. A and I want to take some time for ourselves and spend more time in the kitchen; to that end (and to try and add some discipline to that commitment): I lend our voice to the wider blogosphere.

This is going to be a space for us to share our thoughts on all things urbane, domestic, and, most especially, gustatory. You can look forward to weekly recipes and their related musings as well as semi-seasonal offerings for home design, housekeeping, holiday planning, the works. Ever the aspirational and ardent dilettantes, we think we have a lot to offer in these areas.

The old blog? Well, the spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak. As it turns out, after making that first, tremulous, exploratory post, my non-cyber life got a bit more hectic. With three years, a career change, and a transplant to Pennsylvania under my belt, I think I'm ready to buckle down and actually start handing out some recipes.

The proof, so they say, is in the pudding, so let's get down to business:

Va-va-voom